Satyananda Yoga – Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living
by Swami Poornaseva
The tradition of yoga is ancient, enduring and ever
evolving. During archaeological excavations in the Indus Valley in what is now
Pakistan, statues were discovered showing Shiva and Parvati sitting in various
yogic postures. These artefacts are evidence that yogic techniques have been
practiced for more than five thousand years. Its techniques were developed and
passed on within a guru-disciple relationship, largely by word of mouth so that
the personal experience of the master could be understood by the disciple. It
was only during the latter part of the twentieth century that yoga became more
widely known. Prior to that, it was believed that yoga was meant only for
sannyasins and sadhus who had renounced the world for a life of contemplation
and reflection.
“Yoga is an ancient and complete humanistic spiritual
science which evolved through thousands of years of study and inner experience…
There are a variety of yogic paths to suit different human needs and
temperaments all of which assist in the liberation of human potential and
creativity. Understandably, many of the paths interact and flow into each other
and, individually or combined, they are tools designed to help us become caring
and considerate, loving and compassionate human beings.”
Why do People practise Yoga?
Yoga today is practiced by many people around the world for
reasons as diverse as maintaining good health and wellbeing, improving focus and
concentration, learning the art of relaxation and as a way of stilling the busy
mind and so gaining inner peace and tranquillity. Researchers at RMIT University
in Melbourne conducted the world’s largest survey of yoga in 2006 with over 4000
Australian’s participating. RMIT and the University of Queensland, Australia,
are now collaborating with universities in India, the UK and USA to conduct the
first world survey of yoga and meditation. The Australian survey found for
instance that yoga is the 13th most popular form of physical activity in
Australia, ahead of Aussie rules football and dancing, with an estimated 7-12%
of the population practicing yoga.
One in five respondents reported practicing yoga to assist
with a specific health concern, most commonly, stress, anxiety and depression,
sleep and anxiety disorders or back, neck and knee problems (e.g. chronic lower
back pain, disc injuries and arthritis). Women’s health, respiratory problems
and cardiovascular problems were also reported as being helped by yoga. In fact
96% of people reported that yoga improved their problem.
It is no surprise that the survey found that the reasons
most commonly given for starting yoga were ‘health/fitness’ and
‘flexibility/muscle tone’ (76%) and that only 18% initially saw yoga as a
spiritual practice. However it is interesting that the survey went on to find
that this more than doubled to 41% once practicing, showing that people come to
yoga for the physical and stay for the spiritual.
Satyananda Yoga Tradition
There are many yoga schools in the world today and each has
its lineage and tradition. Bihar School of Yoga, known internationally as
Satyananda Yoga was founded by Swami Satyananda Saraswati who was inspired by
his guru Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, one of the key visionaries of the
twentieth century, to bring yoga from philosophy to practice. He did this from a
belief that yoga would be the need of society in the future, through its
capacity to bring balance and harmony between mind, body and spirit. The recent
Australian survey would suggest that he was right. Swami Satyananda felt that
the Vedantic tradition, as a philosophy, would not be able to help society,
rather it needed practical foundations. The practical foundations of this
tradition were provided by the Tantras through yoga.
“Tantra refers to a large range of practical teachings
which lead to the expansion of human consciousness and the liberation of primal
energy (kundalini). The unifying principle behind the diverse systems of Tantra
is that the material world and its experiences can be utilised to attain
enlightenment.”
www.yogavision.net
Tantra is widely misunderstood in the west as a series of
sexual practices. The real Tantra aims to awaken the dormant potential in the
human personality and its key tools are mantras (vibrational tuning through
sounds), yantras (concentration symbols to liberate the consciousness), chakras
(realisation of psychic centres), mandalas (perception of macrocosmos in
microcosmos), tapasya (practices of self-purification), Raja Yoga (integral
yoga), pranayama (yogic breathing practices), self surrender, shaktipat
(transmission of energy) and tantric initiations (a process incorporating all of
the above imparted by the qualified master to a deserving disciple).
Swami Satyananda developed an Integral Yoga which seeks to
integrate and develop the whole human personality. Swami Satyananda made use of
ancient wisdom and applied it in practical ways to make it relevant for modern
living. He drew from the tantric tradition the practices of kundalini yoga,
kriya yoga, mantra yoga, laya yoga, the advanced stages of pratyahara and
dharana, and the advanced stages of dhyana and samadhi. From the vedic
tradition, Swami Satyananda took the components of bhakti yoga, karma yoga,
jnana yoga and developed a system of meditation from the tantras and the Vedas.
Swami Sivananda described yoga as, “Yoga is integration and
harmony between thoughts, words and deeds, or integration between head, heart
and hands” and this could be said to succinctly describe the aim of Satyananda
Yoga. Swami Satyananda aimed to help people develop this integration though the
range of yogic paths described above and through the development of yoga as
lifestyle.
Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati is the successor to Swami
Satyananda Saraswati. He is both disciple and master and is carrying forward the
vision begun by Swami Sivananda and developed by Swami Satyananda.
Swami Niranjanananda was born in 1960 in Madhya Pradesh,
India. He was an exceptionally gifted child who was considered to be a yogi from
birth and was selected by his guru, for a special upbringing and education. It
is said that when he was four he had an inner calling and gathering a small
bundle of clothes, set off for Munger, where Bihar School of Yoga (BSY) is
situated. His father is said to have had difficulty in bringing him back from
the railway station! Not long after, he went to live at BSY and his secular and
spiritual education was personally supervised by Swami Satyananda. At the age of
ten, he was initiated into Dashnami sannyasa (the tradition of renunciation and
dedication to spiritual life.)
At the age of 11, the young Swami Niranjanananda was sent
overseas to further his training and education. He lived in many ashrams and
yoga centres throughout North and South America, Europe and Australia, including
London where he lived with Swami Pragyamurti at the Satyananda Yoga Centre in
Balham.
He travelled widely in
these countries, assisting in the development of ashrams and centres, and
conducting many yoga programs. During this period of his life, he not only
furthered his education, but also achieved a profound understanding of the needs
of the different communities and countries he visited. As well as acquiring
fluency in many languages, including Hindi, English and Spanish, he also made
intensive studies in Sanskrit and ancient texts and is, today, considered a
master in this field.
In 1983, Swami Niranjanananda was recalled to India and,
although only twenty-three, was appointed president of BSY. He also took over
the administration of the ashram and its associated organisations. In 1990 Swami
Niranjanananda was initiated into Paramahamsa Sannyasa by the leading spiritual
luminaries of India. In 1993 he presided over the Tyag Golden Jubilee - a world
yoga convention in honour of his guru's fifty years of dedication to sannyasa
and the upliftment of humanity. This event was attended by people from all over
the world, who came, not just to listen to various spiritual masters, but also
to eminent scientists, doctors and educationalists, who discussed the results of
yoga in their particular field. During this convention, Swami Niranjanananda
announced his retirement from the presidency of BSY in order to have more time
to travel overseas and spread the message of yoga on a more global scale. Since
1994 he has toured extensively throughout the world, including North and South
America, Africa, Europe and Australia, as well as making extensive tours within
India where he has been instrumental in introducing yoga into prisons, medical
colleges, villages, schools and the army.
In 1994 he founded the Bihar Yoga Bharati, Institute of
Advanced Studies in Yogic Sciences (BYB) at Munger, India as an educational and
charitable institution for advanced studies in yogic sciences. It is the
culmination of the vision of Swami Sivananda and Swami Satyananda. BYB is the
world's first accredited institution wholly devoted to teaching yoga. A
comprehensive yogic education is imparted with provision to grant certificates
and diplomas in yogic studies. It offers a complete scientific and yogic
education according to the needs of today, through the areas of Yoga Philosophy,
Yoga Psychology, Applied Yogic Science and Yoga Ecology. Swami Niranjanananda is
its present chancellor.
Swami Niranjanananda has authored over twenty books and
guides national and international programs. He is a man who belongs equally to
both East and West. His cosmopolitan background has contributed to his inherent
understanding of people and their particular needs, no matter what society or
walk of life they come from. He is respected and loved as a spiritual master,
not just because of his infinite wisdom and compassion, but because he is a man
who radiates joy and celebrates each moment of life.
Swami Niranjan (SwaN) is a modern master of yoga who is
adept at making use of the wisdom acquired by his predecessor’s and applying
that wisdom to contemporary life, with its range of problems and issues. Most of
all perhaps, he inspires through his presence and his dedication to serve, love
and give. He will be in the United Kingdom in July and everyone from whichever
yoga tradition they may belong to, is most welcome to attend the programme’s and
to be in his presence.
References
Saraswati, Swami Niranjanananda (2000), ‘The Growth of
Satyananda Yoga or Bihar Yoga’, YOGA January 2000, Sivananda Math, Munger,
Bihar, India
Saraswati, Swami Satyananda (2004), ‘A Systematic Course in
the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya’
Paramahamsaji Swami Satyananda 1923 - 2009